DivaCup review

Now, first you have to understand there are two models. Model 1 (the pink one) is for women younger than 30 years old who have never delivered vaginally or by caesarean section. Model 2, the blue one, is for women over 30 years old and/or women who have delivered vaginally or by caesarean section.

I didn’t know this, and by luck, I just chose the pink one.

Before putting your DivaCup in, remember to wash it. I bought the DivaWash as well, just to make sure nothing could go wrong with my first experience. I pressed out a dime-sized bit of soap and washed the inside and outside of the cup and my hands with it as well. Rinsed it off, and pro tip: bring some paper towels with you into the washroom, it could get messy and it provided a clean spot I could place the DivaCup onto.

It looks a lot bigger than it holds. I noticed the inside of the cup had a 7.5 ml and 15 ml marking. I don’t remember a tablespoon looking so big.

The first time I put it in felt a lot like putting a tampon in for the time. I have come to understand my body better since my teenaged self freaking out about being late to work (swimming instructor), so always remember to stay relaxed. It felt like it wasn’t going to fit it at first, but ...just keep pushing. I folded it to make a cone shape (looks like a butt plug going in) and just kept pushing until it slid in. One thing I kept worrying to myself was that it wasn’t going it because I felt dry as dust down there.

My second worry was pushing it in too far that I wouldn’t be able to take it out afterwards. Same as with tampons, when you’re inserting the DivaCup, your legs are spread apart and you’re kind of flexing your muscles down there to expand so it can go in easily. To my horror, once I thought I had placed it in the right position, I sat straight up normally, and my muscles relaxed down there, for a second I thought there was some sort of suction movement and it was going to get sucked in completely out of reach.

This is where step 4: rotate comes in. Grip onto the base (yes, you’re going to have to reach in deeper than just the stem) and turn the cup around a bit.

While I did this, I was on my fourth day of my period, and it felt like I was pretty much done already. So there wasn’t any mess as there would normally be.

My conclusion? For the most part, my experience has gone smoothly, and there hasn’t been any horror stories yet. Given, I did start closer to the end of my period, so I’m not sure how it’ll hold up on a heavy day. But I’ll try this again next month (am I actually looking forward to a period...?) if anything, the biggest are lack of environmental waste (no throwing out blood-soaked pads and its packing 3-5 times a day every day for five days!)